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In 1948 a reaction against the long monopoly of power and patronage held by de Valera's party enabled the opposition, with the help of smaller parties, to form an interparty government under John A. Costello. But this precarious coalition collapsed within three years, ironically, after declaring Ireland a republic by formal law, an act de Valera had avoided. De Valera resumed office until 1954, when he appealed unsuccessfully for a fresh mandate, and Costello formed his second interparty ministry. No clearly defined difference now existed between the opposing parties in face of rising prices, continued emigration, and a backward agriculture. De Valera claimed, however, that a strong single-party government was indispensable and that all coalitions must be weak and insecure. On this plea he obtained, in March 1957, the overall majority that he demanded. In 1959 de Valera agreed to stand as a candidate for the presidency. He resigned his position as taoiseach (head of government). In June he was elected president and was reelected in 1966. He retired to a nursing home near Dublin in 1973 and died there in 1975.
 
Summary.
 
De Valera's career spanned the dramatic period of Ireland's modern cultural and national resurgence. As an anticolonial leader, a skillful constitutionalist, and a symbol of national liberation, de Valera dominated Ireland in the half century following the country's independence.
 
"de Valera, Eamon" Encyclopædia Britannica
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